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nancypolo's review against another edition
4.0
I finished Norwegian Wood last night before going to bed. Nightmares did not plague me, unlike after reading Commendatore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Why is death necessarily woven into the fabric of life? A 12-year-old girl should not have to physically or psychologically grapple with her older sister's hanging corpse, but it happens. Would we weave death into our daily existence if it did not directly confront us?
Several nascent themes appear in this 1987 book that are further developed in Murakami’s later works: deep wells as mechanism to explore inner worlds, winding springs as internal emotional barometers, the thresholds between life and death, the slippery difference between truth and lies, and the constant stress of sociopolitical stratification in Japanese culture.
Toru and Naoko separately leave their shared tragic past in their hometown of Kobe to begin college in Tokyo. Without Kizuki to complete their triangle, it's difficult for them to renegotiate a true friendship. Nonetheless a true bond beyond grief does form, at least for Toru. It's harder to tell about Naoko. She's buried much deeper in a well of grief, walled in by her uncertain and ever shifting psychology.
Although Toru has fallen deeply in love with Naoko, he needs something beyond her grief stricken nightmare to fully emerge as a whole adult. Through a series of friendships with other students (and one unusual adult mentor), men and women, Toru is able to explore his solitude. All the while he reserves judgement, letting events and emotions fully unfurl in his new landscape.
In his search to assuage his deep need for connection, Toru meets Midori. She is no stranger to grief, but she is resilient, where Naoko is practically erased by her loss. The love that emerges between Midori and Toru is an unexpected blossom that neither fully appreciates at first.
Murakami writes the best, unadultered confession of love, so pure it pours into the characters and the story, like the rainy season. This spring gushes forth after Toru and Midori meander through the mud swamped tunnels of a labyrinth neither asked to enter. The miracle is their mutual respect and generosity for one another. The tragedy is Toru's lingering connection and sense of duty to his tragic friends.
In the end, the surreal horror that I expect from Murakami never fully manifests until the very last page. I was left wondering if I truly knew Toru after all.
As an aside, I was overwhelmed by several strange connections to the American screenplay and novel, Forrest Gump. Midori says the following to Toru: “Just remember, life is a box of cookies… You know how they’ve got these cookie assortments, and you like some but you don’t like others? And you eat up all the ones you like, and the only ones left are the ones you don’t like so much? I always think about that when something painful comes up. ‘Now I just have to polish these off, and everything’ll be O.K.’ Life is a box of cookies.”
Winston Groom’s original writing in the novel Forrest Gump (1986) has the following line, “bein an idiot is no box of chocolates.”
This has none of the optimism of Eric Roth’s “Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” from the 1994 screenplay.
Was Roth influenced by Murakami? When we reach the final chapters with Toru's flight across Japan and abandonment of Midori, I can't help but connect the dots to Roth's screenplay. I find it fascinating that Roth was relatively unsuccessful as a screenplay writer until he borrowed some unique plot and character structures from Murakami. The best artists steal, but these similarities leave me feeling like giving Murakami partial credit for the block buster success of Forrest Gump.
Several nascent themes appear in this 1987 book that are further developed in Murakami’s later works: deep wells as mechanism to explore inner worlds, winding springs as internal emotional barometers, the thresholds between life and death, the slippery difference between truth and lies, and the constant stress of sociopolitical stratification in Japanese culture.
Toru and Naoko separately leave their shared tragic past in their hometown of Kobe to begin college in Tokyo. Without Kizuki to complete their triangle, it's difficult for them to renegotiate a true friendship. Nonetheless a true bond beyond grief does form, at least for Toru. It's harder to tell about Naoko. She's buried much deeper in a well of grief, walled in by her uncertain and ever shifting psychology.
Although Toru has fallen deeply in love with Naoko, he needs something beyond her grief stricken nightmare to fully emerge as a whole adult. Through a series of friendships with other students (and one unusual adult mentor), men and women, Toru is able to explore his solitude. All the while he reserves judgement, letting events and emotions fully unfurl in his new landscape.
In his search to assuage his deep need for connection, Toru meets Midori. She is no stranger to grief, but she is resilient, where Naoko is practically erased by her loss. The love that emerges between Midori and Toru is an unexpected blossom that neither fully appreciates at first.
Murakami writes the best, unadultered confession of love, so pure it pours into the characters and the story, like the rainy season. This spring gushes forth after Toru and Midori meander through the mud swamped tunnels of a labyrinth neither asked to enter. The miracle is their mutual respect and generosity for one another. The tragedy is Toru's lingering connection and sense of duty to his tragic friends.
In the end, the surreal horror that I expect from Murakami never fully manifests until the very last page. I was left wondering if I truly knew Toru after all.
As an aside, I was overwhelmed by several strange connections to the American screenplay and novel, Forrest Gump. Midori says the following to Toru: “Just remember, life is a box of cookies… You know how they’ve got these cookie assortments, and you like some but you don’t like others? And you eat up all the ones you like, and the only ones left are the ones you don’t like so much? I always think about that when something painful comes up. ‘Now I just have to polish these off, and everything’ll be O.K.’ Life is a box of cookies.”
Winston Groom’s original writing in the novel Forrest Gump (1986) has the following line, “bein an idiot is no box of chocolates.”
This has none of the optimism of Eric Roth’s “Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” from the 1994 screenplay.
Was Roth influenced by Murakami? When we reach the final chapters with Toru's flight across Japan and abandonment of Midori, I can't help but connect the dots to Roth's screenplay. I find it fascinating that Roth was relatively unsuccessful as a screenplay writer until he borrowed some unique plot and character structures from Murakami. The best artists steal, but these similarities leave me feeling like giving Murakami partial credit for the block buster success of Forrest Gump.
sandrabureen's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
yurgle's review against another edition
4.0
I had only read Murakami’s non-fiction book on running. This is a terrific book. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting as much sex. It was a terrific read. The character of Toro is different but relatable. I liked the style that it was written in.
nicoleeg's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
auraleres's review against another edition
2.0
wow i really started disliking toru towards the end. the fact that everyone around him told him how great he was kind of pissed me off. instead of telling me, show me. i enjoyed the rest of the characters a lot more though, so the most unbearable parts of the story were definitely the ones alone with toru. i didn't care much for him. aaaaand just as expected i was left with an open ended ending. i'm not mad about it though.
2021 edit: this book was doodoo i was pretty nice giving it a 3/5, i'm bumping it down to a 2.
what were the good parts of the book?
i recall there being one dick joke i laughed at and the overall descriptions in the books were nice. i liked the roommate in the beginning of the book. that's it.
haruki murakami doesn't know how to write women and it's so frustrating. why the Fuck would every woman in toru's life be interested in him?! please he just stands there and says nothing and everyone just projects attributes onto him.
thanks that's all i wanted to say
2021 edit: this book was doodoo i was pretty nice giving it a 3/5, i'm bumping it down to a 2.
what were the good parts of the book?
i recall there being one dick joke i laughed at and the overall descriptions in the books were nice. i liked the roommate in the beginning of the book. that's it.
haruki murakami doesn't know how to write women and it's so frustrating. why the Fuck would every woman in toru's life be interested in him?! please he just stands there and says nothing and everyone just projects attributes onto him.
thanks that's all i wanted to say
littlelibrarylady's review against another edition
3.0
"Young, male college student takes friends with benefits to a whole new level"
hopefulgoat's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The writing truly is beautiful, but it's hard to know what to make of the actual plot. It's very atmospheric.
ellaroshea's review against another edition
2.0
I did enjoy the beautiful descriptions of scenery and landscapes in this book, but that was probably the extent of active enjoyment for me! I picked up this book because I saw so many people raving about it and Murakami and his aptitude for writing verisimilitude- maybe I just love purple prose and artistic literature that paints life in an eloquent way a bit too much, because I found this book a bit dry and very blunt. On the other hand, I think the development of character in this book was incredibly 2D, and I couldn't get into any of the characters' heads, especially the women. They all, to put it bluntly, sort of existed as things to have sex with for the protagonist Toru and other male characters- and maybe that is realistic to life, I wouldn't know! However, representing women in this way I feel is highly problematic- at the very least giving them interesting personalities and developing their characters would have been appreciated, instead of having them fit very bland stereotypes of ideas of women. They didn't seem real, and I therefore found it very difficult to enjoy and get into this book.
pradaa's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0